Scales And Feathers
by AlmightyOstrich
Summary: Zoo AU: Dean loves animals, but he has never gotten what's so great about birds. Reptiles are better by miles. When a new guy, Castiel, comes in to manage the bird department at Winchester Zoo, Sam appoints Dean for the task of making him feel welcome. Dean thinks Castiel is weird, and he doesn't expect a nasty eagle to be what turns his opinion around. (Multichapter Destiel)
1. All They Do Is Poop On Cars

Dean has never understood what's so great about birds.

That is why, when Sam asks him to show the new manager of the Winchester Zoo bird department around, he wonders why his brother didn't consider anyone else before him.

"All they do is poop on cars and leave feathers all over the place", Dean complains. "And the noise. Don't get me started on the fucking noise."

"All birds don't make noise, Dean", says Sam, and sure, Dean knows that. Owls, for example, are quiet, creepy motherfuckers with staring eyes and a twisty demon neck but their silence doesn't make them any better than the lorikeets that enjoy bursting people's ear drums.

Nope, Dean does _not_ like birds. Reptiles are better by miles.

"And he's not a bird", says Sam, a slightly amused tone to his voice. "His name is Castiel Novak, and he's a bird _expert_. He's gonna be a great asset here. And it'll do you good. You don't meet nearly enough new people."

Dean cocks an eyebrow.

"Do I need to?"

Sam sighs and rolls his eyes.

"Yes, you do."

"What about Gabriel? If he's birdy's brother, why can't he-"

"For the love of god, don't start calling him 'birdy'", says Sam. "Besides", he adds with an expectant look, "he's single and bi. And I may not swing that way, but I'm not blind. The guy's good looking."

"_Ooh_", Dean teases automatically, "and what does Jess think about you ogling strange men?"

Sam throws him a bitchface and that's when Dean knows this conversation is over. There is no way he's going to get out of showing the new guy around now.

* * *

><p>"So Sam stuck <em>me<em> with the job of showing him around and like, taking care of him." Dean dumps the big, smelly pile of retic poop into the bucket Charlie is holding out for him. "As if I don't have enough to do already. I got that sick rescue ball to look after, and the ghost corn is gonna lay her eggs soon – her _first clutch_, can you believe that? Remember when I first got her and she was so small, and she bit your finger and you didn't even notice?" Dean laughs.

"Dean, you're babbling." Charlie throws the ten foot long reticulated python a glance. "Let's give Frodo some space and get on with our work."

"Yeah. Right", says Dean, following Charlie out of the enclosure into the back room and locking the door behind him. Charlie chucks the contents of the bucket into the big trash bag, closes the lid, and turns to Dean.

"You'd be at work anyway, wouldn't you?" she says. "You're not gonna be babysitting him on your free time?"

"God, no", says Dean.

"Then what are you complaining about, grumpy?" Charlie goes to the sink, turns on the tap and starts washing her hands. Dean follows her, waiting in line. "I think it's cool to have someone like him here. Gabe says he's traveled a lot, knows karate, and apparently he's a certified biologist _and _zoologist. He's one of the best, he just doesn't brag about it or publish stuff. Doesn't like the spotlight."

Dean raises his eyebrows.

"Gabriel told you that?"

"I know you think he makes everything up." Charlie shuffles aside to give Dean access to the tap and the soap as she dries her hands on a clean towel. "But in this case, I think he's just really proud of his little brother. It's not so far-fetched, is it?"

Dean knows what she's getting at – he's supposed to relate. And sure, damn straight he's proud of Sammy, his own little brother who owns this whole zoo and runs it with his wife, but that doesn't change the fact that whoever this feather-fetish guy is that's coming to work here, he's going to have feathers stuck to his shirt and dried uric acid on his cap and he's just going to be one more person making the staff room smell like bird, and Dean is decidedly not going to like him.


	2. Just A Simple Bird Keeper

Of course, Dean is far too decent to let any of that show through on Monday morning when he stands outside the staff's entrance gate. His khaki button-up shirt and black pants are fresh out of the dryer and the khaki cap is stuffed in his back pocket. His brain is working on filtering out curse words and replacing them with eloquent ones more appropriate for communication with people he doesn't know.

It's early. The sun is just about to rise, the light is dim and the air chilly and moist with the residue of evaporating dew.

A silver Toyota Prius rolls into the staff parking lot. Dean judges immediately. A health nut, maybe. Environmentalist? Nothing wrong with that – hell, Dean and practically everyone else at the zoo is one – but some of them can be a little crazy.

Dean thinks of stressed chickens and the sound of flapping wings as they bounce all over the pen in utter stupidity, and hopes to whatever higher power there is that this bird dude won't be a human version of that.

Then he sees the figure that steps out from the car. He doesn't know what he expected – Sam said the guy was good-looking and Sam knows the type Dean would look twice at, but this is… _wow._

The 'wow' sticks itself on repeat in Dean's head like a hitching record, growing louder in volume as the man comes closer, all dark hair and five o'clock shadow, pale lips and fucking blue ass eyes. Everything is, frankly, perfect.

But he's a bird guy. And Dean doesn't do birds.

Dean puts on his friendliest smile and holds out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Dean", he says. "Sam Winchester's brother."

"Castiel", says the new guy, his voice low and gravelly, "Gabriel Novak's brother."

He shakes Dean's hand with a firm grip and cold fingers.

Detecting a good bunch of responsiveness in the guy, Dean's smile becomes a little more genuine.

"Nice to meet you", he says politely, letting go of Castiel's hand.

Castiel nods, his face straight as a plank.

"Likewise."

"So", says Dean, turning around to unlock the staff gate behind him. "Just come with me."

When they're inside and Dean has locked the gate again, he digs in one of his pant pockets and pulls out another set of keys that he hands to Castiel.

"They're all marked with a number", he explains, pointing at the pieces of tape with numbers and letters written on them stuck to the bottom of each key. "And the corresponding number is above each door. You've got one for the staff room, one for the bird department and so on. The keys to the enclosures are in the back room of the bird department. I'll show you later. Don't lose these, okay?"

"Of course."

"Alright, I'm gonna show you around the zoo and then I'm gonna leave you to Balthazar who's been managing the bird department for two weeks since the old manager quit. He's gonna tell you more about the individual birds and their enclosures and whatnot. You got any general questions, you come to me. I'm the manager of the reptile department, by the way. And speaking of", Dean feels himself light up a little, like a star suddenly twinkling a little brighter, "that's where we're headed first."

With Castiel by his side, Dean walks briskly towards the reptile house, the place that's closest to the staff entrance and the only part of the zoo he's really keen on visiting this early in the morning.

The whole reptile department is indoors. Dean begins to prop up the right door of the pair before they go inside. When Castiel sees it, he immediately gets to work on the left one. When they're done, Dean shoots him an approving look. Castiel doesn't reciprocate.

"No phobias or anything? We got snakes, lizards, spiders…"

"Not the slightest discomfort", says Castiel, a small, almost undetectable smile now playing across his lips. "Reptiles are fascinating animals."

Dean leads them in through the two rows of plastic flaps designed to keep the heat in. The first enclosure Castiel notices is the one that holds Frodo, the reticulated python. The ten foot long snake is not nearly full grown, but still appears huge where he lays basking between two rocks near a heater quite close to the glass. The narrow, elongated pupil, clearly visible on the otherwise orange canvas of his eye, studies the two men with alertness as they approach and stand not far from him.

"This is our retic", says Dean proudly. "My friend Charlie named him Frodo. He's gonna about double in size over the years if we're lucky."

Dean glances at Castiel to see his reaction to the big python – or at least to the irony of it being named after a really little guy – but Castiel is just looking at Frodo with the most serene expression on his face, like an old sailor watching the sea. He does so for a long time in complete silence – long enough for Dean to start fidgeting, putting his hands in his pant pockets only to take them out again and switching his weight from one leg to the other, waiting for a comment.

"There is an almost eerie resemblance of a hint of conscious thought in his eyes", says Castiel finally. "It's beautiful. I've always wanted to see a reticulated python up close."

"You know some about reptiles?" asks Dean, ignoring the philosophical trail of conversation Castiel seems to want to follow.

"I haven't limited my studies to ornithology", says Castiel, throwing Dean a quick look before returning his eyes to the snake. "I find all animals interesting."

"Oh right", says Dean, suddenly remembering, "You're a zoologist, aren't you?"

Castiel turns to him fully.

"Well, there's a paper that says so. At heart I am just a simple bird keeper."

Dean doesn't know whether to smile at Castiel's unwillingness to brag or wince at the thought of one identifying one's self with anything related to birds. Dean's indecisiveness comes out in a snort and he quickly kills the rudeness of it by adding a smirk and looking down at his feet for a couple of seconds. He doesn't know what it's supposed to mean, but at least it's hard to interpret as unfriendly.

"Did I say something funny?" asks Castiel. He makes it sound like it's a genuine question.

Dean chuckles.

"Nah, man." He pats Castiel briefly on the shoulder. "I'm just glad to see you're not one of those stuck-up 'doctors' who think they're automatically in the right just 'cause they've got a PhD."

Dean walks over to the enclosure on the opposite side. It holds a breeding pair of Asian water monitors – four and a half foot dark lizards with a lighter, yellowish pattern of small spots and rings along their backs. One of them is chilling by the side of the water and the other is walking around slowly, flicking its long, parted tongue at the ground.

"_Varanus salvator_", says Castiel before Dean gets the time to speak. "Nice enclosure."

"We do our best."

Half of the enclosure is a pond of water, going from shallow to deep, because the monitors love to swim. It's a bitch to clean sometimes, but it keeps the lizards happy.

"Have you named them as well?"

"Bonnie and Clyde", says Dean. "They're tame as dogs. My dad got them for the zoo five years ago."

Castiel nods, his face still expressionless.

"Well, uh…" Realizing they shouldn't be spending all their time in the reptile house despite how much he wants to, Dean starts to walk towards the next enclosure. "Here's our boa constrictor." He turns and points to the enclosure to the left of Frodo's. "And there's the green anaconda."

Continuing on his tour, Dean leads them into the rounded room that comes next where the walls are littered with vivariums containing the rest of the reptiles and the arachnids. The king cobra, the coral snake, the western diamondback rattlesnake and the Gila monster have their enclosures next to a sign that informs people about their venom.

"Red and black venom lack, red and yellow can kill a fellow", Castiel recites when he sees the coral snake – a rhyme taught in some variations to make it easier for people to remember how to tell the difference between it and the harmless milk snake.

Then they look at the red tegus, the ball python, the 90 pound sulcata tortoise, and then the tokay gecko, the pair of day geckos, the leopard geckos, the green iguana and the Chilean rose and Mexican red knee tarantulas, before moving on to the adjacent room – also rounded – that holds amphibians, and which is always more humid than the rest of the building. They do it on purpose, not just for the animals but to create an atmosphere for the visitors.

Charlie is in there, doing daily cleaning for the red-eyed tree frogs.

"Oh, hi", she says when she sees them, smiling brightly at Castiel and extending a hand after wiping it on her pants. Despite the residue of bark and dirt on it, Castiel takes it without hesitation, and smiles right back. "You must be the new guy. I'm Charlie Bradbury."

"Castiel Novak", says Castiel.

"Is this the welcome tour?" says Charlie to Dean.

"Yep", says Dean. "We're just gonna have a quick look here and then we'll move on."

"Knock yourselves out."

They look at the poison dart frogs, the big cane toad, the axolotls, the Chinese fire belly newts and the European fire-bellied toads before moving on, taking a two-minute walk to the aquarium house where they meet Garth – the department's manager – and Adam, the latter being in the process of scrubbing the walls of the zebra cichlid tank.


	3. Invisible Ink

**Author's note: Some minor changes/edits have been made to the previous chapters. Nothing big, but I'd advice you to go back and skim them over to avoid confusion if it was a while since you read them. :)**

* * *

><p>They visit Ellen, Bobby, Jo and Meg at the stables, which doesn't house horses but zebras, camels, wildebeest and some other kinds of antelope Dean can't identify with confidence, and in another building elephants, rhinos and giraffes. They say hello to Anna and Samandriel in the zoo's small primate department. After that, they come to the predators – African lions, Siberian tigers, cheetahs, wolves, brown bears and spotted hyenas – where they meet the department's manager in the back room. He throws his arm around both Castiel's and Dean's shoulders and ruffles their hair.<p>

"My little bro!" Gabriel grins. "And Dean-o! What are you guys up to? How you hitting it off?"

Gabriel wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and Dean winces, wrangles away and quickly rearranges his hair. Castiel smiles and gives his brother a friendly pat on the chest. He lets his own dark brown strands remain sticking up ridiculously, which Dean decides isn't cute at all.

Not at all.

"Gabe, please", says Castiel. "Dean is showing me around the zoo."

"Bet he hasn't shown you the main attraction yet." Gabriel winks.

Castiel looks genuinely puzzled.

"The main… attraction?" Castiel squints and tilts his head to the side, which registers with Dean as something parrots do, and he holds back a shudder.

"Yeah." Gabriel smirks. "The _private_ tour."

"This is a private tour", says Castiel. He looks at Dean, and there is no doubt in Dean's mind that the guy is still incredulous.

"Gabriel, shut up", Dean snaps. When he looks at Castiel again, he sees the exact moment it clicks. Castiel's eyes widen and he looks away from Dean and scratches the back of his neck, glaring at Gabriel with a slightly lowered head.

"Can you for once act professional when it's my first day?" He says it in a lower tone, one that's even huskier than his normal one, almost like a growl.

"Alright, alright!" Gabriel holds up his hands in defeat. "Just one question before I commit to never speaking truth again."

Dean rolls his eyes.

"Do you think he's cute?"

Castiel turns red, and so does Dean, and this is the worst situation. Dean wonders why he didn't just skip the predator department. Gabriel is nice and a good guy all in all, but he completely lacks a verbal filter and makes everything around him feel unpredictable and unsafe.

Though honestly, this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Dean finds Castiel attractive. Very attractive. Maybe even painfully so, if he were to allow his thoughts to go there.

"I think we should go now", says Dean, glaring at Gabriel, who snickers.

"What's the matter, kiddo? Struck a nerve?"

"I'm gonna strike _all_ _of your _nerves if you don't shut up right now." Painfully aware of his lame comeback, Dean puts a hand on Castiel's shoulder and leads him outside.

When the door is closed behind them they speak at the same time.

"Sorry about that."

They look at each other for a moment. Then they laugh.

* * *

><p>"I'm just gonna show you your office before I drop you off with the birds."<p>

Dean holds open the door to the lunch room slash office building located in the center of the zoo. Castiel says thank you as he steps inside, smiling at Dean as if he really is grateful.

They stomp the dirt off their shoes on the big door mat and hang their jackets over the backs of two chairs. Dean gestures towards the room.

"This is the lunch room. This is where we come to…" He pauses briefly. "… Eat lunch. Obviously."

He clears his throat. Castiel, however, doesn't seem to be bothered by his awkward presentation of the place.

"It's very nice", says Castiel. And he's right to think so – they work hard on keeping it clean and take turns vacuuming, dusting, wiping off shelves and everything.

Without really meaning to, Dean says this out loud.

"Actually, it's my turn today", he finishes with a sigh.

Castiel chuckles.

"I take it you don't like cleaning?"

"I don't mind it", says Dean, frowning at Castiel's assumption, not sure if he should be offended. "I just have some things to take care of at home. Got a corn snake that's gonna lay anytime now, a sick ball python, and I should handle the boas 'cause it's been a while, and then there's all the daily maintenance and I'd like to have time to eat before I have to hit the hay."

"I can help you", says Castiel, and it's not until then that Dean realizes he had pretty much ranted to the guy. He shakes his head.

"Oh, it's not that bad. I just complain a lot."

Castiel shrugs.

"If you have to do all those things and are short on time I would be happy to assist. I'm in no rush to get home. You finish at five too, correct?"

"Five, six, depends on how much there is to do", says Dean. "But look man, you really don't have to-"

"I really want to", Castiel insists, and it makes something in Dean's stomach twist in a weird – but not entirely unpleasant – way. "It's the least I can do after you've taken your time showing me around like this. And…" Dean thinks he sees the hint of an apologetic smirk on Castiel's face, "…to make up for my brother's childish behavior."

Dean scoffs.

"Trust me", he says, "making up for everything your brother's ever done would take you _at least_ a year."

"I'll have to work hard, then", Castiel smiles. Dean feels the corners of his own mouth curve upwards until he's actually grinning, even laughing a little, and it doesn't escape him how there's something about the way Castiel draws his eyes away from his and smiles at the floor that stirs him, digging up something in him that he hasn't been in contact with for a long time. He knows it means something, but like a letter written in invisible ink, he can't figure out how to read it.

* * *

><p>When Dean has shown Castiel his office – a small room next to Dean's, which is between Castiel's and Garth's offices – they get to the birds, and then Dean isn't so happy anymore. He wants to let Balthazar do the tour of the bird department but they have to walk past some of the enclosures to get to the back room, and Castiel doesn't take Dean's brisk steps as a sign they should hurry. He stops to look at one of the owls perched on a branch in an old tree. Dean comes to a reluctant halt, standing a bit farther away from the enclosure's glass window, behind Castiel. The owl blinks at them with big, spooky eyes.<p>

"I like Eurasian eagle owls", says Castiel. "They may not be very flamboyant, but they have a characteristic look."

"Yeah", Dean scoffs, "they look _creepy_."

Dean almost has a heart attack when he for a split second thinks Castiel's neck is going to twist 180 degrees just like an owl, but all the guy does is turn his head and squint at Dean.

"I don't understand."

"They're creepy", Dean repeats.

"They are not creepy", says Castiel as if correcting a false fact. "Do you not like owls?"

"I don't like _birds_", says Dean. With the owl staring at him he doesn't really care to be polite anymore. Having them so close, he's suddenly reminded of exactly how much he hates them. He doesn't mind their existence – they have a place in the eco system and all, and some reptiles eat them so there's that, too – but they would do well staying miles away from Dean.

"Why not?" asks Castiel.

"I just don't."

Castiel looks at Dean for a moment before turning fully to him, away from the owl's enclosure.

"Perhaps it is time for me to meet my coworkers and get to work."

Dean stills. Has he managed to offend Castiel already? What a fucking surprise. Well, what does it matter? He never liked the guy anyway. He's a _bird_ _guy,_ and Dean doesn't do birds.

"Sure", is all Dean says before leading Castiel onwards to the back room.

* * *

><p>Balthazar is in the back room when they get there. He looks up from a bunch of papers when the door opens, and immediately stands when he sees Castiel's unfamiliar face.<p>

"You must be the new manager", says Balthazar before Dean gets a word out. Balthazar walks over to them and shakes Castiel's hand. "I'm Balthazar. I've been keeping things in check here for a while so I'll fill you in on everything."

"I'm Castiel. And that sounds good. I suppose we should start right away."

Preferring to avoid an awkward goodbye between two people who don't like each other, Dean decides to slip away now that he's not needed anymore. He spins around and heads for the door.

"Uh… Dean?"

He stops. Castiel is smiling at him when he looks back. Not a big grin – just a small upwards curve of the edges of his lips, but from what Dean has seen of the guy, that's a lot.

"Thank you for showing me around", he says. "I'll see you later."

Behind Castiel, Balthazar raises his eyebrows.

"Uh… sure", says Dean, shooting Balthazar an annoyed glare and hoping this isn't going to become a thing, to joke about him and Castiel.

Balthazar smiles and nods at Dean in such an exaggerated way it can't be interpreted as anything but sarcastic. Dean rolls his eyes as he turns his back.

"See ya, Castiel. Bye, Balthazar. Have fun with your creepy little angel garrison."

"Dean", Balthazar's voice comes from behind him. "It's a quarter past seven. We might as well make company to the morning meeting."

Dean curses under his breath. He can't make it back to the reptile house and then up to the office building in fifteen minutes, but when Charlie and Jo and Sam and fucking Gabriel see him traveling with the bird guys in the morning, boy, they won't let up for at least a week.


	4. I Don't Understand This Coffee Machine

Dean sits on the right side of the back of an ATV driven by Balthazar. Castiel sits on the left and Lou – or Lucifer, as Dean likes to call him, because he's as close to Satan himself as anyone could be – has placed himself between them, chattering on about some party he went to on the weekend. It's not interesting, but Lou isn't expecting replies from anyone, so Dean shuts it out and instead listens to the roar of the engine and focuses on holding on to the black metal bars he's sitting on, clenching his teeth.

They enter the lunch room at approximately the same time as everyone else. Slipping into the small crowd arriving from the hoof department with the excuse that he has something to say to Bobby, Dean successfully slips away from the bird guys before anyone notices him arriving with them.

It's a mass of black and khaki in the kitchen area, all taking cups from the cupboards and one after the other working the buttons of the one coffee machine. It's amazing, Dean thinks, how it doesn't run out before he gets to it.

He's staring at the dark liquid pouring into the white cup when someone taps him on the shoulder. He almost jumps, having been lost in thoughts without really having thought anything, and turns his head. He's met by a pair of deep blue eyes a bit too close for comfort.

"Oh, hi, Castiel."

"Hello, Dean. Would you mind helping me?"

Dean's coffee is done and he grabs his cup. Ready to go take a seat at one of the long tables, he takes a few small steps back, away from Castiel.

"I don't think I understand how this coffee machine works."

"Oh." Well, Dean can't just leave the guy. He steps closer and points at a row of buttons next to the little screen. "Just press one of these buttons to pick a drink. They're written on the screen, see?"

"Ah."

"And then you pick a size. We set this one to be right for one of these cups." He points at a button with one hand and holds up the cup in his other, tapping it with his middle finger. "And then you just press here. It's the 'start' button or whatever."

There's black, latte, cappuccino, espresso and hot chocolate to choose from. Castiel picks cappuccino. Dean finds himself wanting to take something from that, but he doesn't know what.

* * *

><p>The morning meeting proceeds as usual, with everyone sipping coffee while Sam or Jess stands between the tables and the kitchen area talking about whatever needs to be addressed. This is when they would bring the news that an animal has died or that some film crew from an educational TV show is coming in a few days, or – as is the case on this particular day – that there's a new employee.<p>

"So get this, guys", says Sam, almost excitedly. "We have a newcomer! As we all know, since Uriel quit to go and study condors in South America – which we wish him all the best of luck in – Balthazar has been managing the bird house..."

"It pays well but with all these extra hours at work my girlfriend's starting to get pissed at me", Balthazar comments more or less jokingly. Some people laugh.

"Exactly", Sam chuckles. "So now we've found someone else to do it, someone hopefully a little bit better at it."

"Hey!" Balthazar protests.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding", says Sam. "But in all seriousness, let's all welcome our new colleague…" He pauses to look at Castiel. "You want to get up and introduce yourself? Just a brief thing." He waits for a response, which he gets through a silent nod that Dean sees from over the couple of heads that are between him and Castiel. "Mr. Castiel Novak!"

There's silence as Castiel slides his chair out and stands up. His arms hang at his sides when just about anyone else would fold them or stick their hands in their pockets, and he looks over the little crowd seemingly unbothered by the momentary silence.

"As Mr. Winchester said", he begins, "my name is Castiel Novak. As the name suggests, I am the brother of Gabriel Novak, whom I believe you all to be acquainted with."

An excited "_whoo!"_ is heard from Gabriel, who has placed himself in the chair opposite Castiel's. A faint laugh runs through the room.

Jo, who is sitting next to Dean, leans in and whispers,

"Why does he talk like that?"

Dean shrugs and mumbles back,

"I dunno."

"I have mostly worked in nature reserves doing research and conservation work, much of it abroad. I have also worked at wildlife rescue facilities. The only zoo I have previously been employed at was Johannesburg Zoo in South Africa. I was there when I was younger, for six months, before I went back to the U.S to study. I have PhDs in biology, zoology and – as you might have guessed – in ornithology, the study of birds. You all seem like nice people and I am happy to be working with you. I just hope my brother won't get me in too much trouble", Castiel finishes with a pointed look at Gabriel, which makes everyone laugh.

Quietly, Castiel sits down, and Sam closes the morning meeting and sends everyone back to their respective departments to start their pre-lunch routine.


	5. Dead Birds Don't Flap

"What about that Castiel guy, huh? He's dreamy."

Dean rolls his eyes when Charlie rests her chin on his shoulder from where she's sitting, behind him on the ATV. She hasn't said anything about Castiel all morning and neither has Kevin, except a brief comment right after the morning meeting on how he's no longer the biggest nerd in the zoo staff.

"Watch out so I don't make a sharp turn and flip this thing over, Bradbury", he replies, lip twitching with mock aggression. It's not an unreasonable threat – it's happened to him before, so he does in fact know exactly what to do to get an ATV to lose balance.

Charlie, as usual, remains unaffected by his lashing out.

"Shut up", she says, "I know he's exactly your type."

"Charlie, he works with birds! That's like, the biggest turn-off ever."

"You work with bird _corpses_", Kevin chimes in. He's sitting farther back, on the metal bars on the left hand side. "That's not worse?"

"When they're dead they can't…" Dean lets go of the handle for a second to wave at Ellen, who's just coming out from the stables they're passing, "… flap around and shit. So no, it is notworse. I'm not fucking weird."

Charlie laughs.

"Have you asked anyone else's opinion on that?"

Dean shoves her with his elbow. Her grip around his waist from where she's sitting behind him tightens and she pokes him in the side.

"You're one of those people who spend seven days a week taking care of creatures who wouldn't so much as blink even if you died right in front of them. You devote your life to them." Charlie pats him on the shoulder. "That's a little weird."

"You do the exact same thing", says Dean.

"But I'm not in denial."

* * *

><p>"Dean-o!" Gabriel lights up when Dean steps into the lunch room. "Come sit with us, come sit with us!"<p>

"Can I at least get my lunch first?"

When he opens the refrigerator, Dean sees in the corner of his eye how Gabriel leans over to Castiel, who's sitting next to him, and says in what is meant to be a quiet voice,

"He's like a grumpy old man, but we still love him."

"I heard that!"

When he's microwaved his potatoes and a leftover piece of steak he heads over to the table that has been taken over by the people from the predator and bird departments. Benny's there now, too, which is a relief – he knows how to divert Gabriel's attention when it gets too much, and all Dean has to do is give him a look – and Ruby, whose very appearance is almost as feline as the lions and tigers she works with.

Dean sits down on the left of Balthazar. Charlie takes the seat next to him and Kevin sits in the chair opposite Dean's, next to Lou, who's next to Castiel.

"How's your first day been so far, Castiel?" asks Charlie, leaning over the table a little to see him better.

Castiel swallows the quinoa-like food in his mouth and gives a small, polite smile.

"It's been good, thank you. My coworkers are incredibly competent."

Charlie nods contentedly.

"Even if _some_ of them have a habit of chattering like budgies", Castiel adds.

Dean snorts. Lou pouts his lips.

"I have no idea what you're talking about", he says innocently.

"You'll get used to it", says Balthazar.

"I've had worse." Castiel picks up his glass of water with long, slender fingers that Dean definitely doesn't let his eyes linger on. "I once worked with an aggressive hyacinth macaw at a rescue facility. You can imagine."

He takes a sip.

"I can't believe you still have all of your fingers", says Kevin.

"Well, she wasn't so much mean as just misunderstood", says Castiel calmly. "She went on to a great home after some rehabilitation."

Dean has no idea what a hyacinth macaw is – he barely knows what bird species they have at Winchester Zoo, let alone other ones – but he imagines it's a freaky bastard, something like that big ass black-and-red demon spawn Balthazar calls a black palm cockatoo.

He almost visibly shudders at the thought.


	6. Laugh The Doomed-to-hell World Away

It's half past five, Kevin has already left, and Dean and Charlie are at the end of their day. They need to pick some retained shed off one of the tokay geckos and lock up and then they can go. Dean, of course, has to clean the lunch room as well. He doesn't imagine Castiel will be waiting for him up there when it's already been half an hour since he presumably finished.

"You get him", says Charlie when they're standing outside the vivarium. "I've been bit enough times by that little bitch."

"Rude", says Dean.

"I'd rather not have a half gnawed off finger." Charlie twists the key in the lock. "Yours are thicker than mine, they can handle it."

"I meant don't call him a bitch", says Dean. "It's not his fault he's scared of your ugly face."

Charlie slaps him over the head with the protective glove she's holding.

"Ouch! Okay, I was kidding." Dean rubs the top of his head. "You're pretty."

Charlie smirks and hands him the glove.

"Damn straight."

"Actually not straight at all", Dean mumbles, way too proud of his own joke, as he slides his right hand into the glove and pushes one of the vivarium's glass doors aside. "It's not humid enough in here", he says when his face comes in contact with the air inside. "This is just about 40%. It's dropped since this morning. We need to check the misting system when we're done with this."

"How can you tell just like that?" asks Charlie. "See, this is what I mean with you being weird. Normal people can't tell air humidity by feeling it on their skin."

"I'm just that awesome", Dean snickers.

"So was it fine this morning?"

"Yeah, but I think there's been a malfunction since then. He hadn't shed yet when I spot cleaned so that's the problem, it's too dry in here."

Dean spots the blue orange-spotted lizard behind one of the synthetic plants. He carefully pushes the leaves aside with his left hand. The gecko has pieces of grayish dry skin stuck to the top of its head, the edge of its tail and two of its toes.

"Alright Charlie, you ready with the box?"

Charlie picks up the plastic box with air holes in one hand and takes the lid in the other.

"Ready."

"Here we go."

Dean shoots his hand forward and snatches the gecko from the wall. It opens its mouth in aggressive display, but Dean's gloved hand is securely wrapped around it, preventing it from moving.

"You're so good at that", says Charlie with awe as Dean puts his hand with the gecko into the box. Charlie slides the lid over his hand, Dean drops the gecko and Charlie quickly fastens the lid.

Dean turns back around, closes the vivarium door and takes off the glove and puts it on top of the lid.

"I grew up learning how to catch _wild_ reptiles, of course I'm good." He winks at Charlie, who just rolls her eyes.

They sit down on the floor. Dean reaches into another box he brought and pulls out a towel and a spray bottle with warm water. He sprays the towel until it's warm and moist and hands it to Charlie.

"Alright", he says, "we could just fix the mister and go home and let this little guy sort it out by himself. I've no doubts he'd manage, but you need to practice this. I think it'll come off the top of his head if you just rub it, so I want you to pick him up and rub the top of his head with the towel. Carefully."

Charlie, not new to reptiles but inexperienced in actually _handling_ skittish, bite-y ones, clenches her teeth.

"Alright, if you say so."

"You'll do great", Dean reassures her. "It won't even hurt so much if he bites you through the towel."

Charlie manages pretty well after two tries at getting a proper grip of the lizard. She doesn't get bitten, and manages to rub the retained shed off the top of its head.

"Awesome", says Dean. "Now get a grip of his head. Hold him still but, you know, don't hurt him." Charlie nods. "And I'm gonna see if I can peel those pieces off his toes…"

Dean manages with one of the toes, but when he reaches for the other foot with the tweezers, the gecko pulls its leg into the towel burrito it's encased in and once again opens its mouth.

"Cocky", says Dean. "Well, okay. I'll just do the tail and we'll leave him to it. Be sure to keep an eye on that toe the next time you see him."

"Yeah", says Charlie.

She already knows all that, but Dean says it anyway.

When the shed is off the tail they put the tokay gecko right back into the vivarium. Charlie goes to leave the boxes and tools in the back room while Dean unlocks a door not far away, and steps into the cramped area behind the vivariums where the misting system is installed. There's nothing wrong with it – it's just out of water.

He goes back to the door and sticks his head out into the much cooler display room.

"Charlie?" He calls. "Charlie!"

"Dean?"

Dean startles. The voice that answered was definitely not Charlie's – it was much deeper, much huskier, much _sexier_ – and shit, of course it was Castiel's.

"Uh… Y-yeah?" Dean replies, stepping fully into the display room. "I'm here."

Castiel appears from behind the corner. His hair is more disheveled than earlier – the way hair of that length will get from physical work if you don't smooth it down, which Castiel seems oblivious of – and lo and behold, there's an unmistakable, disgusting beige-ish stain on his black pants, just above his knee.

He smiles at Dean as if nothing was wrong, as if he didn't have a disgusting bird excrement stain on his clothes.

"How is it going? I was waiting for you in the lunch room but you never showed, so I decided to drive down here and see if you perhaps required some assistance to get done quicker."

Dean doesn't understand why he's so flustered. He runs a hand through his hair and scratches the back of his neck to try and shake it.

"I, uh- No. No, but thank you. I don't need any help. I'm just gonna fill up a mister and lock up."

Castiel nods. At that point, Charlie comes back. She appears from around the same corner as Castiel, smiling brightly when she sees him.

"Hi Castiel! How nice of you to stop by."

"I'm going to help Dean clean the lunch room", he states.

"Oh", Charlie barely holds back a smirk at that, and the suggestive glance she gives Dean is almost enough to make his cheeks go red. "That's so kind of you."

"The mister needs refilling", says Dean, a little too loudly.

"Alright." Charlie doesn't miss a beat. "I'll go get water and you can help check all the locks, Castiel. If you want to."

"Sure", says Castiel. "Just this room?"

"This and the next, with the frogs and stuff", says Charlie. "I'll check the rest as soon as I've gotten the water."

* * *

><p>It doesn't get difficult for Dean again until they're on the ATV's.<p>

Charlie sits behind Dean, as usual, when they're going up to the lunch room where she's going to change out of her work clothes and go home and Dean and Castiel are going to clean. Castiel is riding his ATV in front of them, and it's the first time Dean actually almost _has_ to look at him, because he's right there a few yards ahead and Dean can't just look to the side while he's driving.

It's the first time he pays attention to how fit Castiel really looks. He's not skinny per se – because his arms are firm and while they're not bulky, they're clearly muscled – but his hips are narrow and his waist is thin. Even through the black vest he has over his button-up, Dean can see the muscles work on his strong shoulder blades when he makes a sharper turn. He goes fast on the ATV – faster than Dean, even, which is saying something – but he knows how to balance it out and make it look smooth and somehow _graceful. _

"Keep it in your pants, Winchester, you're practically drooling", says Charlie. Dean tightens his grip around the handles in order to not accidentally steer off the road when he startles at her voice suddenly right by his ear.

"Your _mom's _drooling", he retorts.

"You really need to work on your comebacks."

Castiel stops outside the lunch room a few moments before Dean and Charlie. He stands up and swings one of his legs over the back of the ATV to get off and Dean isn't even going to deny it this time, he's checking out Castiel's ass.

Actually, he's staring so hard he almost forgets to stop.

"Dean, slow down!"

Dean comes back to the reality of where he is – on top of an ATV that's going way too fast to stop with dignity at this point – and he slams both the foot break and the hand break down at once. The sudden stop lifts the back wheels of the ATV several inches and pushes Charlie against his back, almost sending Dean over the front before he manages to lean back and rebalance.

"Gees, Dean, that was _not_ the time to get lost in thoughts", says Charlie and slides off onto solid ground. She knows what distracted him, she _knows_, Dean can _feel_ it, but unlike Gabriel, she spares him the embarrassment of saying it when Castiel is right there.

"Are you often this easily distracted?" asks Castiel, and for a second Dean thinks he knows, too. Then he decides no, the guy's far too incredulous for that, and lets his embarrassment fall away by pretending it never happened.

* * *

><p>"Alright, see you tomorrow", says Charlie. She waves goodbye before closing the door, leaving Castiel and Dean alone in the lunch room.<p>

They're in their own clothes now, not the zoo's, as not to compromise their cleaning with feathers and dust and dirt. Dean is a little self-conscious about his t-shirt. It's a size or two too big because he bought it as a sleeping shirt, it has a frayed little hole in one armpit, and the big AC/DC letters printed over the torso have almost worn away. He'd thought he'd be cleaning by himself and then just going home in his car. He hadn't anticipated having to lean over tables and bend over to pick Gabriel's stray candy wraps off the floor with a really hot guy looking over at him every few seconds.

Which Castiel does, actually – look over at him. And honestly, Dean wouldn't know that if he weren't looking himself every now and then, wanting to say something but unable to think of anything witty enough to dare break the silence.

"Would you rather I wasn't here, Dean?"

Dean freezes where he's wiping off the kitchen counter. He turns to Castiel, who has paused from his floor sweeping and is leaning against the wooden brush he's put in front of him, his posture casual but the look in his eyes completely different.

"What?"

"Ever since I came to the reptile house earlier, you…" Castiel trails off for a moment. His hips switch height as he looks down and switches weight behind the brush, his waist looking even narrower now that he's haphazardly tucked in one side of his blue-and-white plaid button-up. His eyes are steelier when he looks at Dean again. "You've been giving me these _looks_. I'm not sure but I think I know what they mean. If I overstepped your boundaries too quickly, I apologize." He picks the brush up and leans it against the edge of a table. "I was never good at these things. I'm not good at understanding-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean is simultaneously relieved and horrified – Castiel definitely does not know _at all_ what those looks mean.

Castiel gestures vaguely with his hands.

"You… The-"

"You're way off track, man", says Dean. "If I've been looking at you it's because you're new. I just want to make sure you're doing things right."

"Oh." Castiel's mouth remains in an O-shape for several seconds. He stands with his brow furrowed and his hands hanging at his sides.

Dean smiles, because it looks funny, not because it's cute.

"I misinterpreted", says Castiel, nodding mostly to himself. He lets out a bitter chuckle. "That too has been known to happen."

Dean walks over to him and grabs the brush.

"Don't sweat it, dude. Here." He hands the brush to Castiel. "Keep working so we can go home sometime."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, when every visible surface has been wiped and the floor has been swept, they walk through the short corridor to their offices to get their bags. Dean slings his black backpack over one shoulder and grabs his military green jacket in his hand. It's been a warm spring, he's not sure why he keeps bringing it to work.<p>

He closes the door behind him as he steps out of his office. He walks the three steps over to Castiel's office door and ducks his head in. Castiel is standing by the window at the opposite wall, hands behind his back, gazing out. Dean doesn't fail to notice how perfectly his worn jeans cling to his ass.

"You ready?"

Castiel turns around.

"Oh", he says. "Yes."

He picks his brown leather shoulder bag up from the floor beside his desk and grabs a long, beige trenchcoat from the back of the chair. Dean thinks it's a little bit pretentious for a zoo keeper, but he hadn't been wearing it that morning which meant he seemed to be having the same weird habit as Dean, which, for some reason, registers with Dean as something to remember.

Dean lets out a little laugh.

"What?" asks Castiel, straightening out the trenchcoat and putting it on. The The shoulder bag ends up slung over his shoulder underneath it.

"Nah, it's nothing. Just…" Dean huffs. "We both brought our jackets to work. It's really warm – I mean for March – and we obviously drive home. We don't really need them. Just… funny."

As it comes out of his mouth he realizes how much it sounds like something an infatuated teenage girl would say to her crush. But Castiel just smiles.

"I am of the firm belief that there is a reason for everything, Dean."

Dean feels his cheeks heat up.

"Uh…" He scratches his neck. "Okay."

It's not until Dean opens the door that he realizes Castiel might not have been implying that they shared some sort of profound bond.

It's raining.

It's a fucking full-on _shower. _

Dean throws on his jacket and runs over to the ATV, already feeling his hair flattening pathetically against his scalp.

They go as fast as they dare to in the rain. A few minutes later they park outside the reptile house and run down the rest of the asphalt slope down to the staff entrance. The water is running in currents by their feet, and apparently Dean's casual boots aren't made to have good grip on less secure surfaces, so he slips, yelps, and lands on his ass in the water.

Not embarrassing in the slightest.

Castiel stops, turns around and comes walking back to him, laughing. His dark hair is plastered to the top and sides of his head, a few strands hanging down almost over his eyes, his trenchcoat has adopted a darker shade and the hand he offers Dean is dripping. Dean takes it, but his own hand is wet too and he loses his grip. He falls back onto the ground, flat on his back this time. His immediate reaction is to send a cognitive curse to the universe for stripping him of every last ounce of dignity. Then he realizes he's laughing.

He's laughing, and Castiel is laughing. Castiel is smiling wider than he has all day.

If Castiel hadn't been a bird guy Dean would have wanted to pull him down too and just lay there in the half inch of water, laughing the doomed-to-hell world away.

"Come on, Dean", he hears Castiel's laughing voice shout through the rain.

Apparently Dean had closed his eyes. He snaps back to reality, sits up and accepts Castiel's hand again, grabbing a hold of the sleeve of his trenchcoat with his other hand and heaving himself up from the ground.

"Thanks", he says, feeling water drip down his neck and onto the skin under his t-shirt and into his boxers and socks. "That was not my proudest moment."

"Pride", Castiel jerks his head to the side to flip the hair out of his eyes, "is largely overrated."

They trudge carefully but as fast as they can the rest of the way down to the gate. Dean unlocks it, holds the barred door open for Castiel, and locks it behind himself once he's out.

"Alright." He puts the key in his pocket and turns to Castiel. "See you tomorrow. Don't catch a cold."

Castiel is still smiling a little when he replies,

"I'll try."

They run for their cars, Dean's being a bit closer. Just as he's about to open the door, though, he stops and looks over at Castiel, who has just gotten to his Prius and is searching his pockets for the keys.

"Hey Cas!" Dean calls. Castiel stills and turns his head. "Can I call you Cas?"

Castiel nods. A moment of silence follows.

"Why birds, man?"

Castiel stands silently long enough for Dean to start regretting asking because his clothes are soaked through and he's already shivering and his car seat is going to get wet, but right before he's about to say _nevermind, forget it_ and get into his car, Castiel speaks up.

It's almost hard to hear him with the rain smattering against the roof of the car.

"Have you ever wished you could fly?"

Dean shakes his head.

"I hate flying!"

Castiel furrows his eyebrows.

"Well. There was this blackbird…" He suddenly looks down. Another wide smile spreads across his face when he looks up again. "It's a long story. I'll tell it another time."

Dean nods and raises a hand as a goodbye. They get into their separate cars and drive home.


	7. Cinnamon With A Touch Of Fruit

Warm water washes over Dean's body. He just stands there, resting in a void of steam and white tiles, not thinking about anything in particular because if he focuses on the color and texture of his shampoo bottle, he can keep everything else shut out.

In nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair probably sticking out in all angles after he's ruffled it to keep it from dripping, Dean goes to check on the ball python he took in a few days ago. It has a respiratory infection – a sickness caused by bad care over time. A reptile rescue center had called him, having him listed in their directory for possible temporary, experienced homes since Dean doesn't know when, and asked him if he could take it in. They didn't have room for it at the time and Dean didn't hesitate.

Now he's putting it in a homemade plastic box snake sauna once a day, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be working. The snake is worryingly thin, too, and refuses to eat.

Dean pulls out the box from the rack and picks up the sick ball python, holding it close to his ear. He doesn't need to, to hear the wheezing. He sighs.

"You got it bad, don't you?" he says. "Come on, let's get you better."

Having put the ball python in its little healing sauna, Dean goes immediately to check on his pregnant corn snake. She's bright gray like a collection of rocks, as beautiful as ever, but she hasn't lain yet.

"Anytime now unless you feel like bursting, Ghosty."

Unsurprisingly, the corn snake doesn't reply.

* * *

><p>Dean is always a little early for work.<p>

That morning, when he unlocks the cold gate and remembers yesterday's rain shower, he thinks of how much trouble the guys with outdoor departments are going to have with mud and snickers to himself.

Sometimes he _really_ likes working with reptiles.

There's the unmistakable hum of an engine behind him and the sound of tires on the ground, and when he turns around he sees Castiel's silver Prius pulling up next to his own black Impala.

"I managed to not catch a cold", is the first thing Cas says when he steps out. He has his trenchcoat on over a zipped-up red hoodie and a pair of black cargo pants. He carries the brown shoulder bag in his hand.

"Well done", says Dean. He opens the gate and lets Cas through first.

"Thank you", says Cas as he passes.

Dean tries not to catch the scent of what is either aftershave or perfume as Cas walks by. It's like cinnamon with a touch of fruit and it goes straight through his nose, down his throat and ends up as a tingle in his belly.

They walk together up the slope. Dean feels a slight strain in his tailbone, knowing it's probably the memory of the impact making it a little worse than it was before.

"How is your ball python?" asks Cas.

Dean looks at him.

"What?"

"Yesterday you mentioned that you have a sick ball python at home", Cas explains. "I was wondering how it is doing."

"Oh, he, uh…" Dean can't believe Cas remembers that. He mentioned it once for maybe a second in a ramble about why he didn't want to clean the lunch room. Who recalls things like that? "It's a respiratory infection. Pretty bad. He's a rescue. I'm doing everything I can but honestly, I don't know if he's gonna pull through."

"We can always hope", says Cas.

"You're not the praying type, are you?" asks Dean. He's almost hoping Cas will say yes because then, in case a higher power actually exists, at least one of them can reach out to it.

"Not really", says Cas. He looks at the trees to the right, then at his feet. "I used to be, though."

"Huh."

"Gabriel and I were raised a strict Catholic."

Dean turns it over in his mind a couple of times before he decides to ask.

"How did that work out with the whole… you know, _bi_-thing?"

Castiel chuckles.

"Gabriel told you, didn't he?" He doesn't sound surprised. "With him, since I came out, there's no keeping it in."

"Uh… yeah."

"It didn't work out very well."

They stop outside the reptile department. Castiel gets on his ATV, clenching his bag between his left calf and the side of the vehicle.

Dean just stands there.

Castiel watches him for a minute, _squinting_ like he's trying to work him out. Then he says, blatantly and without a trace of nervousness,

"Gabriel told me about you, too."

Dean feels his face flush hot. He ignores it.

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"I can ask him to stop it, if you wish. I know he can get a bit… _overwhelming_ to some people."

Dean shoots him a wry smile.

"I think we can handle it."

What the fuck, no? No, it would've been great if Gabriel stopped insinuating that he and Cas are gonna bang as soon as everyone else leaves the room. _What the hell._

But Dean's mouth doesn't agree with his head.

"I'll see you at lunch or somethin'", he says, his mind screaming at him because _are you making friends with him he works with birds he's practically a walking crane you idiot! _

Castiel nods, starts the ATV's engine and drives away.

Dean props up the doors to the reptile department feeling like he's standing on the edge of a cliff. It would be so easy not only to jump, but to take one wrong step and fall, fall, fall and he knows that if he does, regardless of whether or not there's someone there to catch him, there's no going back.


	8. One Wrong Step

Thursday turns out to be a whole new kind of chaotic.

Dean isn't in on Wednesdays but things run smoothly without him. Despite the ball python not doing better, Dean is in an unusually cheery mood when he shows up to work in the morning. Ghosty, the corn snake, laid her eggs yesterday and they are all currently in the incubator awaiting hatching day.

Everything is fine until just after twelve o'clock, when Dean is sitting on the right hand side of the back of the ATV and they pass the bird department. Castiel, Lou and Balthazar are just about to get on their own ATV. Charlie slows down to wave at them just when a message comes over the com system.

It's Bobby. Dean knows immediately, not just because of his voice but because he doesn't start out by saying a number. All departments have numbers that you state before you address them with your message. Bobby has always ignored that. He never says 'over' either.

"Hey bird guys. There's a freakin' _pygmy owl_ in our barn. Come get it, we wanna go for lunch."

Castiel, Lou and Balthazar all stop dead in their tracks, eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. Charlie slows the ATV to a halt.

"Oh _shit_", says Balthazar.

"Did any of you clean their enclosure today yet?" asks Lou.

"No", says Castiel, and Balthazar shakes his head.

"Shit indeed", says Lou. "Guys… I think this one's on me. I… _might_ have left the door open when I changed their water yesterday." He shrugs. "Thought they were all resting."

Castiel and Balthazar shoot him a glare.

"Sorry, buds", Lou laughs nervously. "I'll go right my wrongs."

"No", says Castiel.

Lou stills.

"I will get it. I've done this before. Albeit with not such a small bird", says Castiel. "You go eat. I'll call you if I require your assistance."

Dean jumps off the ATV and walks up to him.

"I'll come with you", he says. "Can't let you face Bobby's rage alone on your fourth day of work."

Cas nods, once and quickly, before running in to get landing nets.

"Will you guys be okay?" asks Charlie.

"Yeah, sure", says Dean, waving her off. "You guys go to lunch. I'll see you when I see you."

Charlie nods.

"Good luck", says Kevin.

Dean gives him a two-finger salute and Charlie drives off, followed by Balthazar and Lou on their ATV.

Cas emerges a minute later carrying a big textile bag, a bucket with a closed lid and four landing nets big enough to catch a falcon.

"You drive", he says hurriedly, clutching the long steel handles of the landing nets to his chest. "You know the roads better."

Before he knows it Dean has the mysterious bucket in his lap with the bag draped over it and the light touch of Cas' arms on his sides, his knees brushing against the backs of Dean's thighs. Dean can feel the steel handles of the landing nets against his back where they're resting between him and Cas.

"Go!" Cas urges, and Dean blasts off faster than he probably should for their safety.

* * *

><p>Bobby and Jo are waiting for them outside the barn where the antelopes and camels are at night. With red wooden walls, it looks like a regular barn for horses except that the stalls inside are much bigger. Across the graveled compound is a bigger concrete building with a higher ceiling where they keep the elephants, rhinos and giraffes when they're not outdoors.<p>

"Where is it?" asks Castiel, somehow on the ground and several feet ahead of Dean what seems like only two seconds after they stopped. Dean grabs the bucket and the bag and follows him.

"Last time we saw, on a ceiling log in the hayloft", says Bobby. "Jo and Meg are keepin' an eye on it."

They start walking towards the spiral stairs outside the barn that lead to the hayloft.

"I don't suppose I should ask how this happened?" says Ellen, her eyes on Castiel.

"Lou", says Dean, "fucked up."

"To err is human", says Cas, the statement earning a look from Bobby.

"I'm not so sure _he_ is", Dean scoffs.

Cas furrows his eyebrows.

"Is this a frequent occurrence? Because if so, I think I need to talk to him."

"Just once", says Ellen, smirking a little at the memory, "and then it was a new African Gray loose in the bird house."

"During visiting hours", says Bobby.

Dean laughs.

"Yeah man, you should've seen it! That fucking parrot was sitting on one of those branches in the ceiling-" The bird house has branches and leaves in the ceiling of one room to create an atmosphere, just like the reptile house keeps the amphibian room more hot and humid. "-And they'd just gotten it from some person who apparently watched a lot of Hell's Kitchen, and it was sitting there calling people names."

"Swearing like a sailor", says Ellen. "It took them an hour to get it back in the enclosure."

"Oh", Cas laughs, "probably Gordon."

Dean's eyebrows shoot up.

"He's called Gordon?"

"Yes, so they tell me", says Cas. "When I stepped into his enclosure yesterday the first thing I heard was a voice shouting 'you dumb fuck'. That was Gordon."

Momentarily forgetting about the pygmy owl Dean laughs so hard he ends up several steps behind everyone else when they climb the stairs.

He may not like birds, but that parrot is pretty okay.

They step inside the barn and see Jo and Meg standing in the middle of the hayloft a few feet away from each other, their backs to the door, frozen and staring at the same spot above them. Bales of hay are stacked three or four on top of each other all along the sides. Turning his gaze upward, Dean sees the little owl perched on one of the logs attached between the slanted sides of the wooden ceiling. It's tiny, just barely six inches tall, and almost the same color as the wood it's sitting on. It looks at them, blinking calmly and cocking its head every now and then like it's making fun of them.

"Well, I'll leave you to it", says Bobby, stepping back out the door. "I have other things to do. And you", he points at Castiel, who looks at him with surprise, "make sure this doesn't happen again. We don't have time for this."

"You don't have to make time", says Dean. He makes sure to keep his voice as soft as he can as not to agitate Bobby more. "We'll take care of it."

"You're tellin' me you two can do it by yourselves?"

"Bobby, quit nagging", comes Meg's voice from where she's standing. "It's not the end of the world."

"It's the end of a smooth schedule", Bobby retorts.

"Actually, it would be better if only Dean and I were in here", says Castiel.

"So it won't feel crowded, yeah", Ellen fills in. "Sounds about right."

Castiel nods.

"Jo! Meg!" Ellen calls. "Come on, let's go. We don't want to scare the poor little thing."

Meg and Jo tear their eyes away from the owl and walk back to the door that Bobby is holding up for them.

"Let us know how it went", he says.

Jo gives Dean a pat on the back as she passes him.

"Watch your feet", she says, "the floor's super slippery."

"Alright, shorty", Dean replies, which earns a mock-offended glare from Jo and a laugh from Meg, who's just about to walk out the door.

"Good luck", says Ellen, and before they know it, Cas and Dean are alone in the hayloft, about to play a sure-to-be incredibly frustrating game of tag with a small owl.

Dean puts the bucket down and places the bag next to it.

"What's in here?" he asks.

"A couple of dead mice", says Cas, staring determinedly at the owl up on the log. "We might be able to use them to lure it down."

The edges of Dean's mouth quirk down as he nods approvingly.

"As a last resort we'll bring in more people", Cas tells him. "But hopefully two people and two nets will be enough."

"Yeah."

"Keep your eyes on it." Castiel opens the lid of the bucket and takes out a roll of thin string. He picks up a dead mouse and ties the string around its tail. Dean watches him in the corner of his eye, the main part of his vision and focus centered on the little owl, which is still just sitting there blinking and cocking its head. Sometimes it moves a little more, raising or lowering its feathers in the slightest, but mostly it sits completely still, observing their every move.

Cas takes a landing net from where he'd put them, leaning against the short wall, next to the door, and gives it to Dean.

"Stand over there." He gestures to the middle of the hayloft. "Stay still. Be ready."

"Prepare to be witness to my cat-like reflexes." Dean smirks and raises his eyebrows cockily. Castiel blinks.

"Okay", he says. "I assume you know how to do this?"

A little disappointed that Cas didn't say something flirty-slash-teasing back, Dean nods.

"Don't worry."

He goes over to the middle of the hayloft and positions himself a little to the side. He keeps his knees bent and his hands gripping the handle of the landing net tightly. He holds the net in the air, still but ready, and looks from Cas to the owl – still in the same place – and back at Cas.

"Anytime."

Cas has laid out the mouse on the floor. He walks back a little more than about five yards, the end of the string in one hand and the landing net in the other. He looks at Dean and holds his gaze for a long, weird moment, before finally breaking the penetrating silence and saying,

"Here we go."

His eyes snap to the mouse and he yanks the string a little bit, making the mouse move in a twitching motion. It clearly catches the owl's attention.

Suddenly it's in the air and there's barely time to notice before it's gone. Dean looks around. He can't see it anywhere. Confused, he looks at Castiel.

"Where'd it go?"

Cas snorts. He's looking at a point somewhere above Dean's head.

"It's on the hoop of your net", he says.

Dean looks up and sure enough, there it is. It's right there but he can't trap it.

"It's like a damn joke", he growls.

"Hold on", says Castiel. He's not the least bit upset. He yanks the string again.

Dean keeps his eyes on the mouse, since that's where he'll have to aim if the owl decides to go for it.

It does. Dean and Cas leap forward at the same time, bringing their nets down over the spot where the owl landed, but they get nothing. The only thing under the nets is half a mouse tail. It has broken off where the string was attached and the owl has flown away with the rest of it. Cas looks around.

"It's up on the log again", he says after a moment.

Dean looks. The owl is a little more to the side this time, gulping down the mouse.

_'So you don't have to face Bobby's rage alone'_, what the fuck was that? Castiel is a grown man, he can take care of himself. And Bobby may be irritable at times but he's not a monster. Dean sighs. Why the hell did he agree to do this?

Dean makes a frustrated noise. Cas looks at him.

"We'll just try it again", says Cas. "Patience is a virtue."

So they do it again. It takes a little longer this time but eventually the owl takes a leap and flies down to the mouse. Dean launches himself forward but slips on a patch of loose hay halfway there, making him spin around and fall on his back. He glides several feet on the flat, slippery floor and suddenly there's an impact, Cas tripping over his feet and landing on top of him, sending the steel handle of the landing net right into his belly.

And then everything is still except for a flapping sound behind his head. Castiel is looking forward and Dean is staring at his chin.

"I got it!" Cas grins.

Then he looks down and the world stops spinning.

He looks into Dean's eyes, his face so close Dean can feel his hot breath on his own lips and their bodies are pressed together from the chest to the thighs. Dean becomes aware that one of Castiel's legs has landed between his own, creating a kind of pressure that might cause problems if they stay like this for any amount of time. He sees Castiel's gaze trail down to his mouth before coming back up to his eyes. Still Dean doesn't move, suspended in time and space, trapped under an unfamiliar but intoxicating warmth. Cas' eyes are _so blue_.

And then the moment is gone.

Cas sits up and moves off of him, keeping his hands on the handle of the landing net in order to keep it down.

"Get the bag", he urges. Dean scrambles to his feet. "There's rope in the bucket, get that too."

Dean grabs the bag and the rope and runs back to Cas. He falls to his knees next to the upset owl, which is still flapping its wings under the net. It makes angry little noises every now and then.

"Yes, I know you're upset", says Castiel, his voice soft and smooth as honey, which is a contrast to how gravelly it usually is. "But please calm down. We're not going to hurt you, sweetheart."

Dean drapes the bag over the net, looking at Cas for confirmation that he's doing it right. Cas nods, so Dean slides the bag in underneath the hoop and pulls.

"This would've been a lot easier if we'd brought gloves", he says. "So we could grab it."

"I know", says Cas. "I forgot them in the heat of the moment. My mistake."

He actually sounds apologetic, so Dean smiles.

"Don't worry about it. We'll work this out anyway."

He lifts the edges of the bag and closes it, making sure the only opening is where the handle is sticking out. Then he stands up and Cas lifts the hoop a little bit. The owl stills slightly, seeming to have given up the fight.

"I'll turn it around", says Cas. He twists the handle and puts his hand on the bag, nudging at the soft bunch of bird he finds there, tipping it through the hoop and into the bag. There's a soft thump on the floor where the bird lands.

"Alright, pull it out quickly", says Dean. He makes a thin opening in the bag and Cas quickly pulls out the net, drops it to the floor and walks around Dean to get the rope. Dean closes the bag and Cas ties the rope around it. Then he takes the bag from Dean and holds it carefully in front of himself.

He looks at Dean and smiles.

"We make a good team."

Dean feels himself blushing, so he looks down and kicks lightly at the floor to gather himself before looking up and returning the smile.

"Yeah, we kind of do."

But if Dean thinks the day's surprising events end there, he's wrong.


	9. I Doubt Satan Would Cower Before Me

_**Author's note: **About the last chapter: I'm not sure if a pygmy owl would realistically want or be able to cram down two mice in a couple of minutes. Just imagine the mice are small and the owl is very passionate about food. Can you do that? Good. Thanks. _

_By the way, reviews are much appreciated! Just saying. *wink wink* _

_Now have a drink on me and let chapter nine commence._

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><p>Dean puts two forkfuls of rice wok into his mouth.<p>

"A'ight, so 'ere's a lo' 'o do 'oday", he says in between chews. Kevin cocks an eyebrow at him.

"In English, please?"

Dean swallows.

"I said there's a lot to today. And tomorrow. I might come in on Sunday too to check things out before we open."

"Monday's the big day", says Charlie.

Dean points his fork at her.

"Two preschool classes have booked tours before lunch on Monday", he says. "Just FYI."

"All the noise will start up again", Kevin sighs. "I prefer the off season."

Dean takes another couple of bites of his food.

"'Eo 'ou woun' ge' 'aid-"

"_ENGLISH." _Kevin rolls his eyes. Charlie laughs.

Frowning at Kevin, Dean swallows.

"It's not my fault I've got to cramp all this food into my mouth in like ten minutes", he says. "It's that fucking owl."

Cas, who is sitting next to Dean, puts down his fork and looks at Dean.

"Don't blame the owl, Dean. Lou was the one who didn't close the door, and we all make mistakes sometimes."

"And you _chose_ to go with him", says Charlie. She smiles knowingly. Dean raises his eyebrows at her as if he wonders what she meant, even though he knows exactly what she would say if he asked her to explain.

'_You have a thing for Castiel. Why don't you just ask him out for a drink?' _

And Dean would refuse, because he does _not_ have a_ thing_ for Cas. Sure, the guy's attractive. And seems to have a pretty cool personality. And he's attractive. But it's not a _thing _that Dean has for him, it's, well, it's… Whatever.

"_Anyway_", he says, "I said: Well, you wouldn't get paid as much if it weren't for the people that make that noise, Kev."

Kevin shrugs.

"Still prefer the off season."

"I find it refreshing to meet new people and raise their enthusiasm about animals and the ecosystems they are part of", says Castiel. "Especially when they're children. It gives me hope."

"For what? That the world won't implode on itself?" Dean takes a sip of water.

"Yes", says Cas. He sounds so irrevocably certain, Dean has to pause to turn his head and look at him.

"Because kids like birds?"

Castiel just looks at him.

"Dude, kids like treehouses and Lego just as much. That isn't gonna save the world."

"Then what is?" asks Cas.

Dean pauses. He searches for a way to phrase it, something that doesn't make him sound so resigned, but he can't think of anything. So he takes another sip of water, puts the glass down and simply says,

"I don't know."

"Dean", says Cas slowly, clearly, not for a moment taking his eyes off him, "even the smallest event can change a life forever. All it takes is one perfectly worded sentence, a moment of absolute clarity, one second of indefeasible love. Such small things _can_ come to save the world."

The silence that follows hangs heavy in the air. It's like that when you discuss environmental destruction with people that work closely with any component of an ecosystem – animals, plants, whole places – it affects them. It's a weight on their shoulders, chains they tug at that they can't shake off. It touches them, deeply, and it hurts. Everything they love is exposed and wounded, trapped in the trenches of a war they never chose to join, but had to.

"Yeah, whatever."

Dean can see Kevin and Charlie exchange glances, but he lets them be.

It's true that he doesn't know. And he doesn't know if it matters.

* * *

><p>Dean turns the handle of the door to the lunch room and opens it. The sun is shining and the sky is a clear blue. It's nothing like yesterday afternoon.<p>

Then it happens.

There are feathers everywhere, on his shoulders, on his head, in front of his eyes and when he gasps they're in his mouth, too. He shouts, spits, coughs and jumps away, spinning around as he wipes them off his vest and t-shirt. When he looks up, he sees Lou, standing beside the door with a bucket, doubled over, laughing.

"What the _fuck_ did you do?!" Dean roars.

He tries to brush some of the small feathers from his shoulder and accidentally inhales one again. He yelps, jumps and spits it out, flailing and backing up until he hits the wall.

"They're fucking _everywhere!_"

"What's the matter, Dean?" Lou wheezes with laughter. "It's just some soft, cozy feathers! Don't you like them?"

"No, you asshole, you know I fucking don't!"

At that point Charlie, Kevin and Castiel come running out the door.

"What's going on?" asks Charlie. The three of them look between Lou and Dean, the realization dawning on them visible in their eyes.

Charlie and Kevin run right up to Dean and start to help him brush off the rest of the feathers.

"It's okay, Dean", says Charlie softly, patting his shoulder. She knows how creeped out he can feel when birds – or feathers – come close to him when he's not prepared for it. It's not a phobia, absolutely not, just a huge, _huge _discomfort. "Just stand still, we'll get them off you."

Dean takes a deep breath.

He sees Cas walk up to Lou. He doesn't stop until he's right up there in Lou's face and Lou isn't laughing anymore. Cas' hands are hanging at his sides but Lou still looks like he's trapped, fixed to the spot by an invisible force.

"What", Cas growls slowly, "did you do?"

Dean almost forgets about the feathers. _Holy shit_ _that voice._

"I-I-I, uh", Lou attempts an innocent smile. "Heh. It was just a little prank. Come on, it was funny!"

"I don't see anyone laughing."

"Uh, no, but… Maybe they're laughing on the inside?"

"Since you are so dedicated to making other people smile", says Cas, "you can wipe off all the glass and scrub the floor today before you go home. So the visitors will", he leans in a little closer, "_smile_ at how clean and tidy everything is when they come on Monday."

"Uh…" It's like Lou contemplates it for a moment and decides not to argue. "Sure."

"And while you're at it, why don't you do the shelves in the back room, too?"

"A-absolutely."

Cas moves away slowly.

"Go, then."

Lou is on an ATV and driving off before Dean can even fully process what just happened. Lou is like an eel usually, able to slip away from any situation he doesn't want to be in. Dean has never seen anyone dominate him like that before.

Cas walks up to Dean.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine", says Dean, his voice a little high pitched. He clears his throat and says with his normal, lower voice, "Just fine."

"All the feathers are gone now", says Kevin happily. Dean pats him on the back.

"I'm sorry about that", says Cas. "Lou clearly needs to be kept in line."

"You see why I call him Lucifer?" says Dean.

"Well, I'd say that's a bit of an exaggeration", says Cas, "but yes." He smirks a little. "Although I doubt Satan himself would cower before me like he did."

"Oh, I don't know", Dean smiles, "you were pretty scary."

Cas huffs.

"I've had to be."

"What?"

"Oh. Um. Nothing."

"Yeah, anyway… We need to get back to work."

"Yes. Me too. Have a good day."

"You too."


	10. A New Member In The Garrison

_**Author's note: This chapter was going to be longer, but since it for some reason is a hard one for me to write, I decided that instead of making y'all wait I'd split the chapter so I'd have something to upload. That's where it ends where it does. Sorry if this one is a bit uneventful. But ey, it's better than nothing, right? **_

_**As always, reviews are highly appreciated! Thanks in advance. You may now read. **_

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><p>"Hey, Satan. Having fun with the floors?"<p>

Lou glares at Dean from where he's standing next to the glass wall that separates the corridor from one of the exotic bird enclosures, swiping a mop back and forth on the floor. Dean snickers.

"Looks like you finally found your place in the world, huh?"

Lou stops swiping and shoots Dean a sinister grin.

"I actually don't mind it so much", he says. Dean raises his eyebrows skeptically. "I figure if this helps your true love by way of Castiel being the knight in shining armor that barged in to save Princess Deanie from the fearsome dragon that breathes _fatal_ fluffy feathers, I'm more than willing to-"

"Listen to me, Lou." Dean advances, closing the distance between them in a few quick strides so they're standing face-to-face. His upper lip twitches. "There's nothing going on between me and Castiel. But _something_, though definitely pretty different in nature, is gonna be going on between you and your employer if you don't shut the hell up and get back to work."

"Oh, so dramatic." Lou rolls his eyes. "Really, Dean, you're like a teenager."

But he doesn't object, doesn't keep at it – just smiles and shakes his head to himself and gets back to mopping the floor.

Dean walks out and stands by the doors. He takes a deep breath, wondering why he'd snapped like that. Lou is always a menace. He teases everyone about everything, especially if he sees that he can get them riled up about it. It's like he thrives on seeing the world fall apart around him. He'd probably start the freaking apocalypse if he could.

Dean usually lets Lou's comments slide, retaliating simply by referring to him as the devil, so why did he get so worked up, and so quickly, this time? Sure, it had been a few slightly stressful days, with the zoo opening next week and showing Castiel around, but to be so affected by _that_ that he would lash out at Lou, it doesn't make sense.

Unless he actually likes Cas.

Which he doesn't, of course.

But what if he did? If somehow he overlooked the whole bird thing and the slight social awkwardness, maybe he does kind of like the guy. Dean certainly isn't denying that Cas is attractive, but that's a whole other thing than actually _liking_ him. Who cares about messy dark hair and practically shining blue eyes, full lips and sharp jawlines and a deep, a husky voice that can growl like a fucking wolf, long, slender fingers on hands that look like they were shaped by a master sculptor… Wait. Where was he?

Oh, right. Liking Cas. Well, he had come to the bird house after he'd finished just to see him, after all. Or no, he'd come to tease Lou, and to thank Cas again, because Dean wants to be polite because Cas is new. But well, okay, honestly, also just to see him.

Dean doesn't have time to continue his train of thought before one of the zoo's vans stop outside the bird house and Cas and Balthazar get out of it together with a woman Dean hasn't seen before. Balthazar gives Dean a wave before following the woman to the back of the van. Castiel stops.

"Hello, Dean", he says. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to watch Lou suffer." Dean grins. When Castiel doesn't seem to understand that it's a joke, he adds, "and you know, to thank you again, I guess. Most people just let the guy be because he's always like that. No one really tries to shove some karma at him. So… thanks."

A small smile appears on Cas' face.

"Don't mention it. He overstepped a boundary and as his manager I will not stand for that."

"So what's the van about?" asks Dean, gesturing towards the car.

"We have a new member in the garrison", says Cas happily.

Dean furrows his eyebrows.

"What?"

"There's a white bellied sea eagle in there. Stunningly beautiful", says Cas. "Sam asked if I thought I had time for her and I said yes. She just came in from a zoo a few states away. She's a bit of a special case."

"How so?" asks Dean, cocking an eyebrow.

"She's a little grumpy at times."

A horrible, piercing cry comes from the back of the van. It ends on a pitch high enough that even Cas winces. It comes again and again, like a machine gun firing short bursts of sounds to make you go crazy.

"Oh, shit", Dean whines, covering his ears with his hands.

"She's distressed", Cas explains when the eagle finally quiets and Dean lets his hands fall back to his sides. "Moving this far understandably takes its toll."

"How can you be so patient?" Dean wonders, upset. "That's like, a sound from hell. She's almost worse than those little… You know, the colorful ones."

Dean knows their name. He's just too annoyed to admit it.

"The lorikeets?" says Cas.

"Yeah, them."

"Just wait 'til you see her", says Cas. "She's gorgeous. I've always wanted to work with a white bellied sea eagle."

"Weirdo", mutters Dean.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

"Would you like to help us get her inside?"

Dean's eyes go wide.

"Uh… You know what, I think I should go home. Lots to do, you know…" Dean awkwardly waves his hand in the air. "Snakes…"

Cas sees right through him.

"Come on", he says, as if talking sense to a stubborn child. "You don't need to be close to the eagle. Just open doors for us when we come with the cage."

Dean fidgets, scratches the back of his neck.

"I-I don't know, man-"

"Does it help if I say please?"

With those blue eyes staring into Dean's and a puppy-dog look Dean didn't know Cas had in him, goddammit it, it does.

"Fine."


End file.
